Nick Ayers

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James Nicholas "Nick" Ayers, also known as the "young Karl Rove of Georgia," is chief political aide to Governor Sonny Perdue. He began his meteoric rise at age 19 when he quit Kennesaw State University and his part-time job as a bank teller to become the driver for Perdue, then an underdog candidate for Governor. Perdue won an upset victory, and Ayers rapidly rose through the ranks of the Perdue organization, becoming chief political strategist at age 23. He married Perdue's niece along the way.

Nick took a brief leave from the Perdue organization to singlehandedly guide another underdog candidate, Karen Handel, to victory in a 2003 special election for the chairmanship of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners. Handel, now Georgia's Secretary of State, joins Perdue in believing that Ayers has the political equivalent of the "Midas touch."

As Perdue's top political aide, Ayers rubs elbows with Fortune 500 executives, members of Congress and other dignitaries. He has, however, made a few enemies along the way, notably clashing with radio talk show host Anthony-Scott Hobbs, a prominent Republican activist and Perdue supporter. He has also irritated a number of Republican grass roots activists and others with his alternately unctuous and abrasive style.

Ayers was arrested for drunk driving days before the 2006 gubernatorial election, when he was supposed to be managing the Governor's re-election campaign. He was not immediately fired and subordinates defended him by saying the arrest was a "personal matter." Ayers, who refused a breath test at the scene of his arrest, has denied wrongdoing.

After the 2006 election, at Governor Perdue's urging, Ayers was named Executive Director of the Republican Governors Association, making him one of the most powerful people in the country.

Although not a college graduate, Ayers has a high school diploma. Ayers was voted "most likely to be a politician" by his high school senior class. Ayers has not ruled out a run for political office himself.

[edit] Drunk driving arrest

On October 25, 2006, James Nicholas "Nick" Ayers, 24, was booked into the Atlanta city jail, charged with DUI and failure to maintain lane, according to a State Patrol incident report. Shortly before 11 p.m., a State Patrol trooper observed Ayers driving a Chevrolet Tahoe at an estimated 50 mph in a 35 mph zone and failing to maintain his lane, the report states. Trooper First Class J.W. Rickett followed the SUV into a private parking and the Tahoe sped up, almost hitting another vehicle in the parking lot, according to the report.

"It appeared as if the Tahoe was attempting to hide," Rickett wrote in the report. The trooper gave Ayers a field sobriety test, which Ayers failed. Ayers refused to take a breath test, both at the time of the traffic stop and at the city jail, according to the arrest report.

Attorneys for Ayers have stated that, without a breath test, there is no evidence of drunkeness and that he should be aquitted.